OAKLAND – On the surface, everything about Stephen Curry looked the same.

On Wednesday, Curry showed his competitive side by renewing his post-practice shooting routine with Kevin Durant. On Tuesday, Curry showed his nurturing side by including fourth-year guard Quinn Cook as well as training camp invitees Tyler Ulis and Kendrick Nunn in his post-practice workout. And on both days, Curry showed his playful side by finishing those sessions with half-court shots.

Dig deeper, though, and the 30-year-old Curry has actually become a changed man. Before training camp started, though, Curry spent his offseason fulfilling a different routine. And it is something that Curry projected could have significant implications entering his 10th NBA season.

“It’s probably one of the best summers I had in terms of my prep work going into a year,” Curry said. “I’m excited with what that will mean on the court.”

What could that mean? Curry already has won three NBA championships. He has collected two regular-season MVP’s. He has cemented himself as the league’s best shooter. But as Warriors assistant coach and Curry confidant, Bruce Fraser said, “he wants to be the best.”

Therefore, Curry said he spent this past summer completing “a lot of consistent work” that did not reflect his usual offseason routine.

“In the past, there were times he would get the work in when he could get it in. I feel like this summer, there was a dedication to that,” Fraser told Bay Area News Group. “Not that he hasn’t been dedicated in the other summers. He’s a dedicated person and player. But mentally, I think he got more rest and also he assured himself a space each day that he could use for basketball.”

Therefore, Curry mapped out his offseason with specific parameters to reach this goal: “I definitely wanted to pace myself.” After Curry missed a combined 31 regular-season games and six playoff games because of overlapping ankle and knee injuries, the Warriors determined he did not any surgery or non-invasive procedures to heal those ailments. So after the Warriors won the NBA championship in mid June, Curry estimated he spent about a month resting.

Once he began training, Curry reported that “my body felt pretty solid.” So after describing his past four offseasons as “chaotic” because of numerous vacation and business trips, Curry spent most of July in the Bay Area. Then, Curry worked out with his personal trainer, Brandon Payne, on strengthening his ankles and knees, while also sharpening his conditioning and shooting.

Curry stayed active in early August by golfing at the Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward. Even when Curry went on Under Armour trips in early September in Manila, Phillippines, China, Japan, France and the U.K, Curry squeezed in workouts there, too. Curry found that itinerary more manageable than in the past four offseasons that he described as “chaotic” amid other business trips. In the 2016 offseason, Curry also skipped the Rio Olympics and mostly spent that summer healing his rested right knee.

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) is photographed during the Golden State Warriors Media Day at Rakuten Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

“As you get older, to maintain, you can’t take too much time off,” Curry said. “It was part of the gig. I had a lot of consistent work. That had me feeling good physically and mentally going into the season.”

Well, mostly. Curry and his wife, Ayesha, welcomed their third child, Canon, on July 2. In addition to caring for their first son, the Curry’s also have two young daughters in Riley and Ryan. Has Curry received enough sleep?

“I am getting adequate sleep that a parent of three should get,” Curry said, smiling. “It’s not the same sleep I got in ’09. But it’s plenty.”

So, the Warriors have not seen Curry nursing shut eyelids.

“He’s doing great. He’s happy in every aspect,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I think he’s also in his prime physically as an NBA player. He’s in a good place.”

To remain in that good place, Curry has stressed the need to outline mini goals for the 2018-19 season. The concept might seem absurd given Curry’s credentials. That explains why Kerr joked Curry’s main goal this season entails hitting a hole-in-one on his golf simulator. As Kerr joked, “that’s the only way I can help him.”

And yet, Curry argued that goal-setting will become instrumental in ensuring he keeps his stature among the NBA elite.

Curry’s top goal: “stay healthy.” Usually, Chelsea Lane helped Curry with that as the Warriors’ head performance therapist. Lane has since left for the Atlanta Hawks training staff, a move Curry mourned and called “weird” and “different.” But Curry sounded intrigued about the Warriors hiring Rick Celebrini, a sports and orthopedic physiotherapist who has also trained Hall-of-Fame point guard Steve Nash. Then, Celebrini helped Nash improve his postural stability while nursing chronic back problems through a 19-year NBA career.

“Rick is on the side watching and taking mental notes on how I move and ways he can help me stay healthy,” Curry said. “We’ll have that good back and forth. That’s the part of the building process in terms of a whole new staff that you have to get to know on the fly.”Curry’s other goal: “play more efficient.” That might seem hard to do. He has appeared in the past five NBA All-Star games. In the past five seasons, Curry has exceeded his career averages in points (23.1). He has shattered countless 3-point shooting records. But Curry likes to scrutinize. He has posted his worst numbers from 3-point range in 2016-17 (41.1 percent) and 2017-18 (42.3 percent). With the Warriors fighting complacency throughout the 2017-18 season, Curry also suggested he contributed to that apathy.

“Coming into the season, who knows what this means stats wise. But I know when I work off the court every night, I leave it all out on the floor and do what I need to do to help my team win,” Curry said. “That’s the one thing I can control – how I prepare for the season. I think I did that.”

Therefore, the Warriors might see Curry’s best version of himself, a scary proposition considering what Curry has already accomplished.

“He feels better physically and mentally. When you do that, it gives you satisfaction and it gives you confidence,” Fraser said. “He’s more excited to start this year than he has been in the past. I can feel it. It’s Steph Curry. I expect nothing less.”